


Welcome to My Life

by GritaChita



Category: The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Spies & Secret Agents, M/M, Minewt Big Bang, Minewtbang, minewt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-18
Updated: 2017-10-15
Packaged: 2018-09-09 03:09:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,474
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8873467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GritaChita/pseuds/GritaChita
Summary: Honestly, Minho didn't sign up for that kind of shit when he agreed to move to New York after his grandfather died. He didn’t think that being the heir of the director of a secret agent meant that.Well, high school life in Denver was harsh, but he never imagined that New York high-school folks were like them.





	1. Nowadays

**Author's Note:**

  * For [halleluhan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/halleluhan/gifts).



> Because I'm super creative hence the title.
> 
> Shout out to the partners [Janelle](https://lamborgenji.tumblr.com/) and [Mijin](https://mushyfern.tumblr.com/) for the endless support. :)

Minho didn't sign up for this kind of shit when he agreed to move to New York after his grandfather died. He didn’t think that being the heir of the director of a secret agent meant this. High school life in Denver was harsh, but he never imagined that New York high-school folks were like _those_.

 _Those_ meant the British guy Newt, along with his tails, Gally and Ben. All blondes, all awful. He had no problem with blonde people in general, but those guys with the most horrible personalities in his new school just happened to be blonde. Although to be completely fair, Newt never did anything. But everyone in school knew that Gally and Ben always did everything Newt told them to.

 _What a little shit_ , Minho thought.

Looking by the record of Minho's luck, he just knew that he’d be involved with them immediately after he first heard about them. He just happened to be in the same homeroom with a very ordinary guy named Thomas – which was good because he didn’t need any more drama outside the agency – who was, of course, the main target of The Blondies, as Minho liked to call them.

Being trained to fight the bad things that were happening in the world, Minho was never a fan of bullying of any kind. But Thomas himself said that he was used to The Blondies’ harassment; in fact he was fine with it. A total idiot, that what Thomas was, but he wouldn't say anything. So naturally, he tried to shrug it off, staying away from that kind of lifestyle. But well, The Blondies wouldn't let him.

“Well, well, well, isn’t it Tommy with the new guy. Do you want to introduce us to him, Tommy?” He could hear Newt’s voice from his back as he talked to Thomas in front of their lockers. Minho groaned quietly. This was _not_ how he imagined his high school life would be. Not even close. Before Thomas could answer, Minho quickly closed his locker door, “Thomas, hey, sorry, I have to meet Mr. Vince, but I’ll meet you in class, okay?”

“Huh? Oh, alright then, see you, Minho!”

Minho almost let out a bark of laugh when he heard a _what-the-fuck_ coming from one of Newt's tails, but he certainly missed the smirk that formed around Newt’s lips as he bolted out to his teacher’s office.

The Denver guy was not an idiot, he knew that sooner or later The Blondies would try to find him again, which of course, was much sooner than he thought it would be. He just couldn’t believe his bad luck when he found that he had Newt and Ben in his math class, saving an empty seat between them, giving Minho no choice but to sit there as he was almost late for the class.

They didn’t try to do anything funny in class – except the fact that Ben was snoring on his right side completely ignoring their teacher, Mr. Janson, for which Minho was slightly grateful. When the class was over though, he knew was trapped.

Newt smirked from his side. If it wasn’t for his awful personality, Minho would admit that he looked pretty handsome. The smirk on the blonde’s face somehow turned into a smug grin as he said, “Name’s Newt, and that’s Ben. What’s yours?”

“It’s Minho, nice to meet you, Newt, Ben. I’ll see you guys sometimes later,” Minho said as he stood up from his seat, ready to get out of there as fast as possible.

Ben tried to stop him, but Newt gave him a pointed look and he was back off in a second. Minho couldn’t help but wonder why Newt had so much power over Ben and Gally when he had the leanest body of them all. The deep voice came to Minho’s ears when he almost reached the door, “Come sit lunch with us, we would like to know you. And bring Tommy with you.”

It wasn’t a question. The guy _commanded_ him. Minho swore he could write it as one of a thousand reasons to hate Newt.

He didn’t come to sit with them for lunch. He left the building and ate his sandwich under the tree behind the school instead. It was peaceful there, and he wondered if his high school life would be like that at all.

 

* * *

 

“What’s the deal with him?” Minho desperately asked Thomas one day, after days of avoiding Ben of all people who tried getting him come to hang out with them. Ben was a pretty nice guy, he didn’t force his way with Minho after all, but it was getting annoying.

“Oh, Newt asked him to,” Thomas answered easily as he chewed his chips. Minho was stunned for a moment. He didn’t expect any answer from Thomas as he just tried to express his annoyance. Raising an eyebrow, he asked again, “Meaning?”

“Newt asked Ben to get you to have lunch with them. He didn’t send Gally because it might lead you two into a fist fight. And why can’t we just sit with them, Minho?” At this point, Minho was pretty sure that Thomas had a crush on Newt or something. He kept begging Minho to sit with them at lunchtime. Minho sighed, beginning to relent; maybe sitting with them wouldn’t be so bad.

“Fine, tell them tomorrow we’ll be there,” Minho said as he left Thomas in a daze.

And well, tomorrow couldn’t go any faster. In the blink of an eye, Minho found himself sitting in front of the smirking Newt while Ben grinned widely. The taller blonde raised his fist, expecting Minho to do the same, “Minho! It’s great to finally see you here!”

“Thanks, Ben,” Minho responded as he bumped his fist back.

He was about to open his sandwich when Newt’s voice reached his ears, “No greetings for me?”

“Oh, right, my deep apologies, King of the School. Hello to you too,” Minho said in a mocking tone. From the corner of his eyes, he could tell that Gally was ready to punch the crap out of him, but Newt just chuckled and mumbled his greeting back.

To Minho’s dismay, now that Thomas successfully took him to have lunch with The Blondies, he never stopped. He kept dragging Minho away to sit with them until it became a habit. Most of the time, Minho felt uncomfortable as The Blondies didn’t even try to stop their bullying to other students. But at least Thomas was happy and bully-free now that Minho knew he actually had a crush on Gally instead of Newt. The brunette always tried to shamelessly flirt with the blonde and failed to do so.

It was a normal occurrence now. Minho and Thomas walked to their table with the three of them already sitting and munching their foods. But that day was different as Minho didn’t see Newt on their table. He turned to Ben and Gally immediately, “Where’s your king?”

Somehow Minho could tell that Gally’s eyes went bigger slightly before returning back to normal.

“He – he had, uh,” Gally stuttered and Minho had never thought that that day would ever happen. Gally, speechless? Were pigs flying?

“He skipped!” Ben chimed in with an uncharacteristically high voice.

Somehow without realizing it, Minho was comfortable enough to talk to Ben like they hadn’t just met, so he pushed, “Ben, where is Newt?”

“Well, he’s –“

The sound of Minho’s phone cut off Ben’s words. He immediately picked it up to find the name he never wanted to get a call from.. He turned to Ben, “Later!”

He didn’t even have the time to realize the relieved sighs from both Ben and Gally and just ran to the backyard of the school. Bracing himself, he swept his phone to accept the call, “What happened with our agreement to call me in school only for the emergency, Brenda?”

“It _is_ an emergency!” Honestly, Minho didn’t expect to hear a glimpse of nerve from her voice.

Brenda was the number one right hand of his grandfather and now she was one of a few people who would train Minho before he was truly ready to become the director. Sometimes he would scoff and protest about that there was no such thing as a director in training, but the woman was tough as hell and wouldn’t let Minho have the way he wanted. So hearing that glimpse of nerve coming from her, well, it probably meant something.

“What happened?” _It’s probably nothing serious_ , Minho thought.

“We might or might not find our way to The Ratman,” Brenda’s voice became steadier as she talked, but Minho couldn’t help but worrying if she could tell that Minho felt a trickle of fear upon hearing the news. Letting out a breath, he slowly asked for the confirmation, “Wait, seriously?”

“The Locatable could confirm that it’s at least 87% where he is right now, and we –“

“I’m heading back,” Minho cut the call off as he twisted his brain on how to leave the school immediately before any of the teachers noticed.

 

* * *

 

 

“Okay, talk to me.” Everyone could tell that Minho’s voice was directed to Brenda as he entered the Right Arm headquarter. The headquarter of the agency was nothing too fancy, as Minho’s grandfather preferred it that way when he formed the agency back then. However, it was a massive and open workspace with dome ceiling, and completed with strict multi-layered security procedures applied on every single entrance. Even Minho, as the one who was supposed to be the new director, had to go through those procedures if he wanted to get through to the main area.

Brenda, who waited for him next to the big table in the middle of the room, raised an eyebrow, “Wow, you're fast.”

Minho didn’t even bother to control himself from rolling his eyes. Of course, he was fast; his grandfather trained him like there was no tomorrow after all. Brenda called him to follow her to get into the elevator that would bring them to the director office space.

“It’s cool that you’re fast, but you're wasting your time,” Brenda said as they were in the director office space. Upon Minho’s questioning look, she explained further, “We found out that the Ratman lives around your school.”

He stopped in his tracks and turned to Brenda in shock, “What? Why didn't you say it earlier?”

“I was about to; you were the one who hung up on me.”

“Oh. Right. So, what do I do?”

“For now, nothing. Also, I've asked the PDA to help us. The leader –“

“What is the PDA?” Minho asked. His grandfather never mentioned the term so he didn’t know if it was something that existed. Brenda didn’t even stop to roll her eyes. She continued, “The Paradise Detective Agency. As I was saying, their leader, Mary, has sent their best detective, and he's coming this afternoon.”

Minho was about to laugh. There was no way that Brenda would do this to him. Well, he was the competent director after all; he certainly didn’t need any help from some unknown agency that had a shady name. He waited for Brenda to crack up and tell him that she was just kidding or something, but she just sat there looking at the board on her hands.

Minho snapped, “Wait seriously? I might be new to this, but why do we need their help? I can handle Ratman by myself!”

“It's the agreement between your grandfather and the leader. Now, I want you to get ready and when he's here please behave like a decent director.”

“But –“

Brenda gave him the stink eye, “Or I’ll triple up your training session.”

Minho relented. “Got it. Great.” He sighed as he left the room. Nothing could stop Brenda at this point. Maybe he’d hear what the detective would say and kick them afterwards.

 

* * *

 

Minho was well aware that he was looking okay in general, so he didn’t understand why Brenda insisted him to get ready just to meet an unknown probably incompetent and old detective. It wasn’t like they were so smart or anything. Still, he put one of the suits Brenda shoved to him earlier.

Suddenly there was a knock at his door. He sighed, “Come in.”

“Director, the PDA detective has come. He’s waiting at the conference room.”

It was Jeff, one of the security guys who he trusted more than others. And he was also one of the guys in the headquarters who Minho bothered enough to be friends with. Minho turned to him, “Did you see his face, Jeff?”

“I did.”

“Did that old man look like a great detective to you?” He asked.

Minho could practically see the gears turning in Jeff brain’s as he remembered the detective’s face. Finally, the guy shrugged, “Frankly, I don't know how exactly a great detective looks like, but he looked pretty young for you to call him an old man.”

“Huh, really now,” He mumbled.

“Come on, man, Brenda will give me long-talks after this if we don’t hurry.”

Well, here goes nothing, he thought as he walked to the conference room. The room was located on one side of the main area. With an L-shaped space, the room was equipped with a long table in the end of the room, surrounded by many chairs for the conference participants. There were no windows around the room, just big screens instead of walls.

As Minho entered the room, bracing himself for meeting his new partner-to-be, he spotted his colleague walking towards the door where he came in. He frowned at her, “Brenda, where are you going? Where is he?”

“I was going to call you because you surely took your time getting here,” Brenda hissed. She motioned him to follow her to the furthest seat in the room – the one that wasn’t visible from the entrance door – as she spoke to the other party, “Sir, the director is ready for you.”

“Thanks, Miss Brenda.” Minho couldn’t help but noticing the heavy accent in the guy’s voice. It was so unique, yet at the same time sounded so familiar.

The detective stood up and turned, “Hey there Mr. Direc– Minho?”

Minho didn't sign up for this kind of shit when he agreed to move to New York after his grandfather died. He didn’t think that being the heir of the director of a secret agent meant this. Sure, he expected that he would be involved in a mission regarding his grandfather’s death.

But he didn’t expect Brenda to call help from some detective agency. Moreover, he didn’t think that the best detective from the agency would be someone around his age. He didn’t know if it was possible to get surprised again and again by the said person. He didn’t think that the guy in front of him, the one who currently wore a grey suit and who would be his partner on the mission, was the one he despised the most in the entire New York.

Newt.


	2. Grenade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Without Minho knowing, Newt shoved himself into Minho's life. In the most unexpected possible way.

Minho gaped at the sight in front of him. Out of all of New York’s detectives, why did it have to be him? He cursed, “What the shuck are you doing here?”

His question made Brenda perk up from her papers. She frowned slightly, “How do you two know each other already?”

“We –”

Minho was about to tell her that the brat in front of them was that one guy from school he’d been telling her about, but Newt had to cut in, “We don’t.”

Minho raised his eyebrows to the guy, “What the hell? You just called my name, you little shit.”

Given the different circumstances, Minho would’ve laughed at Newt’s slightly embarrassed face. However, the blonde quickly masked it with his detective face, “Ah, let’s pretend that didn’t happen.”

There was silence for a moment. Minho looked at the guy with disbelief as Newt pretended to check his nails. Brenda sighed. She decided to let herself into the banter, “Guys –”

“Brenda,” Minho said cutting her attempt short. The young director cleared his throat and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and collecting his composure just like before he met the detective. Brenda eyed him cautiously, “Yes, director?”

“What did you say his name again?”

Brenda let out a relief sigh, knowing Minho wouldn’t want to ruin the partnership between the agency and the detective. The young director seemed to plan on restarting the introduction between the two. Or at least, that’s what she thought.

“Ah, it’s Mr. Is–”

“Name’s Detective Newton. Although it would’ve been better if we meet under better circumstances, I’m still very glad to meet you, Director Minho.” Newt’s rich voice was filled with amusement and mischief, making Brenda slightly questioning her former director decision of working with the detective. Not that she had any intention to disobey the will.

However, Minho wasn’t even remotely surprised or bothered, he smirked back instead. “Right. Detective Newton, huh?”

“Uh huh.”

To say Brenda was confused was an understatement, but she wouldn’t let the feeling show on her face. With the almost-permanent smirk on his face, Minho turned to her, “Brenda, sorry, can you give us a moment? I promise we won’t take long.”

She squinted at Minho, asking nonvocally what the hell he would do if she left. But Minho just raised his eyebrows and gave her a look. She sighed, “I prefer if you promise not to kill him, but fine. Detective Newton, I’ll be outside if this guy trying to do anything funny.”

“Thank you, Miss Brenda,” Newt said as Brenda left, missing the way Newt threw a wider smirk to her director.

 

* * *

 

Minho stood behind one of the chair as he looked down. His frown was clear on his forehead. Taking another deep breath, he looked up to his companion who was sitting across from him, “Let me get this straight, so you were saying you applied to that school because my grandfather told you to?”

It had been less than ten minutes since Brenda left, but the conversation between Minho and Newt was still as tense as ever. Minho earlier asked about Newt’s relationship with his grandfather as well as what his grandfather told Newt about some “Ratman” guy.

Newt made a big show of pretending to think for a moment before turned back to Minho. “Yeah.”

“Why would he do that?”

“Because, oh, I don’t know, maybe I was the best competent detective he had?”

Minho’s mouth dropped open. He couldn’t believe such a narcissist existed in the world, let alone around him. Minho said, “I call bullshit.”

“It doesn’t matter if you call it bullshit or whatever, let’s just get this over with.”

“But –”

“Do you want to find Ratman or not?”

“Of course!”

“Then cooperate with me,” Newt said tiredly. As if he hadn’t started this whole … thing.

Minho sighed and took a seat, “Fine, where do we start?”

Apparently, that was all that it took to bring back Newt’s annoying side. The blonde grinned immediately, “That’s the spirit! Now, I know you heard from your girlfriend that –”

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Minho growled.

“Okay, fine, whatever. Geez, calm down, mate. Yeah, so you must have heard that Ratman is in our school, yeah? I actually already called in a favor to help us,” Newt said as he rubbed both of his hands as if he was trying to look suspicious. Minho sighed again, “Okay, care to elaborate?”

“I kind of consolidated with Mr. Janson – you know, our math teacher – to be my spy, which means he would look around if any of the teachers was acting strange or anything like that.”

Minho muttered to himself, _maybe more of anything-like-that and less of strange if you leave the responsibility to that old man_. But his head already wondered about something else, “Wow, hold on, go backwards. How did you find out that Ratman is in our school?”

“He left behind a button that is made for our teachers’ suit uniform,” Newt answered with a shrug.

Minho kept his expression neutral, but didn’t say anything in case Newt just paused to make his answer more dramatic than it should be. When nothing came up, he creased his eyebrows, “Wait, that’s it?”

“Uh huh.”

“And what did you ask Mr. Janson again?”

“To look around if any of the teachers was acting strange, the one that doesn’t have their button on. Geez, how many times do I have to repeat myself?”

For once in his life, Minho was sure that if any other people were with them then they would’ve seen exactly how the gears inside his brain work. Minho swallowed hard, still waiting to see if Newt was joking. “For real?”

“Positive, mate.”

Both the answer and the way Newt answering them made Minho groan loudly. He pushed his temples with his fingers, feeling as if he was getting older by half a century when he only met Newt for half an hour.

To his dismay, Newt still had the guts to ask, “What?”

“I thought you were supposed to be the smartest detective in town or something?”

If Newt had his right leg resting on his other leg, he put it down immediately as he heard Minho’s accusation. He lowered his voice, “Wow, are you insulting my ability?”

“Are you even real?”

“What is wrong with you??”

Minho was done. He was really done with all Newt’s nonsense.

“What is wrong with _me_? What is wrong with _you_?! How could you make a conclusion – an important one if I might add, the one that will lead us to find the end of this complicated matter – from one little piece of evidence like a uniform button?”

Minho wasn’t sure if he could handle another second in the same room as of Newt and was ready to stand up and leave when he saw Newt’s face filled with amusement. He hissed to the detective, “What?”

Newt, once again, had the impudence to chuckle, “Oh my God, mate, sorry, I was kidding! Do you have to take a joke so seriously?”

“You what?”

“Oh, come on! I was trying to ease the awkwardness between us,” Newt added with a laugh. But when he saw Minho standing up and walking towards the door, he stopped, “Wait, where are you going?”

“I’m leaving.”

Newt stood from his seat as well, sighing under his breath. “Hey man, sorry I crossed the line, but –”

“Oh, you’re sorry now?” Minho snapped back at him.

“But that button is not the only evidence, mate,” Newt added.

Minho’s head turned back to Newt, “Are you shuc-”

“Ratman is a very smart guy who can do practically everything on his own. Before –” The detective paused and took a deep breath before continuing, “Before Mr. Esposito faced his death, Ratman finally succeed on hacking Right Arm’s system; which I know you’ve never heard about before, judging by your vacant expression. So, Mr. Esposito asked for our help, and one of our guys just recently caught a pattern of Ratman’s activities; all of which came from the school area. I think Mr. Esposito kind of knew all along, which made the reason he sent me to that school clearer.”

Minho went silent as Newt finished. The man’s head was down and Newt wondered how much Minho’s grandfather didn’t tell him when he was clearly the heir of the agency. The detective walked across the room and put his hand on Minho’s stiff shoulder, “Mate, are you listening?”

Minho nodded, “Yeah.”

“I take it no one bothered to tell you any of that?”

“Does it matter now?” Minho asked as he turned his head towards Newt. The dark brown eyes that full of unexplainable sadness met his and Newt felt the need to comfort the owner, “Minho, hey I –”

“Let’s just get this over with,” Minho said rather harshly before leaving the room.

 

* * *

 

They discussed the plan with other agents from the agency, Brenda included, but Newt couldn’t help but notice that Minho was a bit off. He didn’t want to blame himself for telling the truth, but it wasn’t Mr. Esposito’s fault either if he didn’t tell Minho anything about what was happening in the agency. After all, Mr. Esposito once told Newt that he intended to keep Minho away from the dark life as long as possible. Ratman coming after him was clearly not part of the plan.

Mr. Esposito was a great guy. When Newt first met him, the old man immediately told him that he didn’t like the way Newt’s teenage life had turned out. That was probably one hidden reason he sent Newt to high school – so the boy could at least live a normal life aside from living as a detective.

“What do you say, Detective Newton?”

Brenda’s words disrupted his thoughts. He turned to her, “Yes?”

“Do you agree with the plan?”

Newt knew he was screwed. He didn’t even know what the plan was. Glancing over to Minho, he found the determination written across the young director’s face. Newt let out a small smirk, “I agree to whatever plan Director Park comes up with.”

Minho’s head jerked up as he heard his name mentioned. He squinting his eyes to Newt, knowing that the detective wasn’t listening at all. But Brenda didn’t notice, so she just nodded, saying that she would hand over the final plan to Newt later.

After everyone was dismissed, Minho was tasked with escorting Newt out of the headquarters. He asked, “You didn’t listen to the plan at all, did you?”

“Nope,” Newt answered easily with a hard pop at the end of the word. Newt wondered if Minho could tell what he was thinking right now. If so, he’d be surprised; they’d only known each other for a short time. He rarely got partners that could read him, let alone the ones who could do it within an hour or so.

Proving his point, Minho sighed, “And you want me to re-elaborate the plan, don’t you?”

Newt grinned. _Yep, Minho was definitely different from his previous partners_.

“Yes. Please?”

“I want sushi,” Minho said as a response. Newt paused for a moment before his own stomach growled, as if agreeing with what Minho just said.

Newt’s grin widened as he watched his new partner, who seemed having a hard time to hold his laughter back upon hearing the music from Newt’s stomach.

“Sushi it is.”


	3. Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess it's time for me to update this or else it wouldn't feel right to move on.

Newt should have listened to what the other members of the agency had been saying when they had their discussion while making the plan for their mission earlier back in the headquarter. He just couldn’t believe that the plan was straight up asking their school’s math teacher, Janson, about the suspicious teacher he found. Exactly just like what he told Minho before. Sure, he had asked Janson about it before. But it didn’t mean that Janson was going to give them the information _that_ soon, did it? It was just his backup plan, after all.

The detective sighed in annoyance. Unfortunately, he couldn’t back down now that everyone in the agency was on high spirit to catch the murderer of their former director.

When he asked Minho why he didn’t say anything more logical rather than the ridiculous plan, the young director seemed to have his own answer prepared, “Oh, I don’t know, maybe because my mind was flying everywhere but there after a certain top detective made me wondering why my grandfather, _who was the former director of the agency_ , didn’t want to tell me, _the heir of the agency if I might add_ , about what was really happening in the agency.”

Newt immediately shut his mouth and hold back to roll his eyes in front of Minho. Sure, he couldn’t blame Minho for that as well, so he half-heartedly followed the plan.

That all aside, here they were, standing in front of Janson’s office, loud-whispering to each other regarding on whether which one of them that should knocked the door. But to their gain, the office door suddenly opened, revealing a tired face of Janson in front of them.

The teacher sighed, “What are you guys up to, making a fuss in front of my office?”

Both students went still, but none was answering. Janson asked again, “Did you guys need anything? Mr. Park? Mr. Newton? If you didn’t, can you please leave my office now? I was trying to make your exam problems inside and I couldn’t think a thing if you kept fussing around here.”

“Yes!” Minho blurted out before the teacher had a chance to even think about closing the door.

Janson raised his eyebrows on him, “Okay Mr. Park, how can I help you?”

“Newt wanted to ask you about the request he asked you before, about the suspicious teacher that allegedly had murdered the leader of Right Arm agency,” Minho said bluntly as Newt covered his face with his hand to muffle his groan.

Janson straightened his slouching posture at his student’s words before turning to Newt, “May I ask why you decided to include Mr. Park into this matter, Mr. Newton? You were the one who told me that it was a classified mission of yours.”

“It’s because he –”

“It’s because the man that he murdered was my grandfather,” Minho cut in.

There was silence before Janson pulled his glasses off. He squinted at Minho, “You were saying that you are the new director of the agency?”

Newt slightly wondered if he told _that_ kind of information to Janson as well. Maybe he did. He never relied much on his backup plan so he never really paid attention to every detail. However, Minho from next to him didn’t even hesitate on giving the teacher the answer.

“Yes, sir.”

“Very well, in that case, please come in,” Janson said as he made space so Minho and Newt could enter the office.

* * *

Thomas’ face showed disbelief and confusion upon seeing Minho’s arrival with Newt when lunch time came. Minho chuckled, the guy was so easy to read. The questioning look he had in his face almost made Minho spill all the secret about the partnership he had formed with Newt in the past couple of days, but he was sure no one in the agency would appreciate it if he did, so he didn’t say anything. Newt, however, couldn’t help but laugh when he saw the face Thomas made when Minho chose to sit next to Newt instead of him. Minho elbowed him to stop him laughing, making Thomas more and more confused at their interaction.

Luckily, it wasn’t long before Gally came in and took a seat next to Thomas. They proceeded to have lunch without Thomas making any weird faces again as he was busy talking with Gally. Once a while, Minho took a glance at the couple, wondering if there was actually something happening between the two. Their lunch then was interrupted by Ben, who lightened up when he saw Newt coming back to school after skipping for days. He made his way to Newt’s chair and hugged the smaller bland, whispering something that Minho couldn’t catch.

Newt responded by patting Ben’s back and muttered, “I’m good, man. Don’t worry.”

It wasn’t long before Ben was drowned in conversation with Thomas and Gally. Minho had tuned out their voices a while ago and wasn’t interested to tune back in. Instead, he turned to Newt and raised one eyebrow, indicating a question on _what was Ben whispering about earlier_. But Newt just shrugged and moved closer to Minho, started talking to him in whisper as his body still facing the other three friends, “When do you think we can go to Mrs. Taylor’s place?”

“I mean, I think as soon as possible? The sooner the better, right?” Minho whispered back.

“Right. So, what kind of plan do you have in your mind? I think this weekend we talk with others in the headquarter then go straight up to her place.”

“I can tell the others later so they can form an extraction plan, all we need just some extra technical preparations. Do you have guns?”

“Yeah, I have one. Your grandfather gave it to me, I heard it was customized and there were only two in the world or something. I don’t really know though.”

“What?!” Minho’s voice suddenly raised in accusation, making Newt turn his face. Newt paused before asking back, “What do you mean _what_?”

“Exactly, Minho. What do you mean _what_?” Thomas chimed in from across the table.

Both Minho and Newt turned his back to their friends. Newt was the first to compose himself, “What was what, Tommy?”

“What were you two talking about?”

“It was nothing,” Minho and Newt answered simultaneously.

“It can’t be nothing when you sit so close to each other,” Thomas pointed out. Minho’s body went stiff at the accusation, but fortunately Thomas didn’t notice.

“This –,” He said as he made a gesture pointing the little space between Newt and him, “– is a perfect amount of closeness when two friends sit next to each other, Thomas.”

Thomas frowned, “So you two are friends now?”

Newt sighed and said, “Of course we are, Tommy. We’ve been having lunch together for a while now. That’s what friends do. You too, you are my friend now. We’re all friends here, right, Minho?”

Minho hummed in approval as he tried to hold back and not making face at the word _friends_. But apparently, the answer didn’t satisfy Thomas. Minho almost rolled his eyes in front of his friends because Thomas was being a literal child and Minho couldn’t help but wonder why. The brunette kept protesting in frustration.

“No, no, no. _This_ –,” Thomas pointed the space between him and Gally, “– is the space should look like between you and your _friend_!”

Upon hearing the word of _friend_ that Thomas emphasized, Gally’s face showed a gleam of hurt before turning back to his stern face. Minho, Newt, and Ben cringed in unison. Minho did it internally, but it seemed that Newt couldn’t hold it back while Ben tried to cover his face with his hand.

Minho shook his head. Maybe, just maybe, after he caught the bastard that killed his grandfather, he could spend his spare time helping Gally to get attention from his clueless oblivious friend named Thomas.

* * *

It was the day before they executed the mission. The teams had formed extraction plan for the two once they captured Ratman, all the communication devices had been tested and proved to work perfectly, and all their weapons were ready. Newt was ready to be done for the day when Minho stopped him and asked, “So, where does our extraction plan start from?”

Newt groaned, “Oh my God, mate, please, we’ve been through this for the umpteenth time! I’m pretty sure I have memorized our plan inside my brain.”

“Okay, okay, fine. Let’s get going. Tomorrow could’ve never come sooner,” Minho caved in and walked together with Newt to outside the headquarter.

The day after surely couldn’t come soon enough. Newt felt that he barely slept when his alarm clock rang out and woke him up. It was like the reminder that his time to return the favor to Mr. Esposito had come.

As soon as Minho and Newt arrived at the destined address, Newt noticed that something was just not right. The high number of members of the agency that hung around didn’t make him feel save. The address led them to a shady looking apartment at the end of the alley on the Harbor street.

Newt heard his partner knocking the door as he watched their surroundings. _Good, no suspicious movements around them_ , Newt thought to himself. It didn’t take long to Mrs. Taylor to open the door. Or, more, it was supposed to be Mrs. Taylor. But well, at least, it didn’t take long to whoever it was behind the door to open it.

“Well, well, well. Are you two guys too young and naïve, huh?” The low voice that came from the apartment was somehow familiar, yet filled with many other inaudibly meanings in it.

If Newt wanted to recall back his memories for a bit, he knew that he occasionally heard the tone. You know, when someone felt the thirst to cut others’ throats, or felt the urge to just stare at others flowing blood, or just you know, when someone felt the need to hear some hollow screeches of others who were in deep pain. It was the tone when someone was willing to do anything to kill others.

And it definitely did not belong to Mrs. Taylor.


	4. Torn

Technically, it was his first mission. Although technically he spent the last years training under her grandfather’s supervisory, he never really jumped in directly to the field to execute some mission. Alas, his grandfather never included him on any mission that required him to be on the field. He was trained to do the thinking, forming the teams, compiling the plans, and observing how the plans worked. Every single time. Sometimes he wondered why his grandfather wouldn’t let him take control on the field.

_Listen, Minho, from now on you’ll live in my house and I will protect you._

He could vaguely recall the words his grandfather said upon taking him to the big house. But somehow, he refused to accept the fact if his grandfather really said those words.

Minho scoffed, _protection, huh?_

Technically, it was his first failed mission. Although technically he spent the last year helping his grandfather from behind the meeting table, he never really had any experiences upon executing the missions on the field.

Everything could happen if you were on the field. Like, everything. All the unexpected could come to you. Humans. Things. Feelings. Everything.

Minho didn’t know how to deal with those things at once. Well, he knew how to deal with humans. The agency trained him for that. And dealing with things are pretty much the same thing, since things came with the humans attached to them. Humans were indeed weak. Most didn’t trust on their true strengths, making them rely on things too much. If Minho could handle the things, the humans were weakened. And if Minho could handle the humans, the things would become useless. It was hard, but it didn’t mean that it was unbeatable.

However, he didn’t know how to deal with feelings. It was his first mission, and somehow, all he had to deal was the feelings.

Feelings like the loss.

Or revenge.

Sadness.

And the anger.

The pain.

And the worst one, void.

It was too much. Maybe he was punished because he messed up very badly in his previous lives. Maybe God wanted to show him that life wasn’t always rainbow and sweets, as what his grandfather showed him through his whole life. It was more than that. There were rains and thunders, with a little bit of extra bitterness pouring down to the world. Maybe it was just him, who wasn’t capable to deal with feelings. Or you know, dealing with life in general.

And to think that his grandfather even made him as the next director of the agency.

Minho sighed as he tried to maneuver his body against the limited space. He knew he messed up the mission for good.

He didn’t know that Janson would give them the directions he had been hoping they never crossed. He couldn’t even tell Janson had lied to them.

What he knew was only to find Janson waiting behind the door, readying himself with a display of his creepy smile. What he knew was that Janson was the very same guy as Ratman, the very same guy as his grandfather’s murderer. What he knew was that the number of their team wasn’t even matched with the number of Janson’s people.

He didn’t even know that Newt’s leg was hurt long before they met, getting shot by Ratman when the guy was on the field helping Minho’s grandfather. What he knew was the guilt he felt, for not trying to know Newt better, or for not asking if he was okay with the plan. What he knew was the feeling of hurt, for letting Ratman hurt Newt once again in front of him.

The rest went blur in his mind. There were too many people there. And he felt like he couldn’t proceed anything that was happening while he had to face three guys in front of him.

There were shouts.

They were fighting.

Some were shooting guns.

One by one, they were dying.

The last thing he remembered was when another guy took a hit to his head, knocking him down in one go. The next thing he knew, he was locked up, probably in a closet, sitting back to back against the unconscious Newt, hands being handcuffed, legs being tied up. The next thing he knew, he was contemplating if his grandfather’s decision on making him as the new director was the right one. No one in the agency ever liked him anyway.

It felt like Minho had been thinking for so long, but he knew it was just his mind making up times under the situation. He also had been trying to wake the guy behind him, but he didn’t even move.

“Newt,” He tried once again.

Luckily, this time he got a response. Be it just a grunt, at least he knew Newt was alive.

“Newt, hey,” Minho nudged his back. Once Newt gave him a louder groan as a response, he asked again, “You okay there, buddy?”

It took Newt a while to fully open his eyes and formed an answer, “Yeah yeah yeah, I'm great.”

“Good.”

“What were we doing again?”

 _Well, that can’t be good_ , Minho thought.

“Oh, just hanging out with cuffs around our wrist on the back of each other while waiting for our death sentences. Are you sure you're okay?”

Newt was actually taking his sweet times before responding, “Oh.”

“ _Oh_ _okay_? Or _oh_ _not okay_?”

“More like, _oh_ _I remember now_. And _oh right, they got us because somebody should have keep focusing on fighting instead of worrying others_. Also, _oh great I'm going to end my life stuck with you_.”

Minho grinned despite the scoffing Newt threw at him. “Great, welcome back, buddy!”

* * *

“Can I tell you something?”

Newt only hummed in confirmation, so Minho began with a question. “Did you know that Jorge wasn't my real grandfather?”

He could hear the detective behind him scoffing loudly and could catch a mix between amusement and irritation in the voice.

“No offense Minho, but everyone could definitely tell. You are a straight up Asian and I'm pretty sure that Mr. Esposito didn't have any Asian heritage in his blood,” Newt responded.

“Well, I'm not straight, but yeah, you got the point there, –,” Minho gave it a three-seconds pause before adding, “– mate.”

Newt gasped, “Don't –”

Minho chuckled, “Sorry, sorry. So, Newt, what about you, where are your parents?”

“Minho, what are you trying to do?”

“Oh, come on, I was trying to ease the awkwardness between us,” Minho said in a teasing tone, reminding Newt on the exact same words he had said to Minho prior their first meeting.

Newt yanked the handcuffs between their hands. “Did you just –”

“I did.”

“Shuck you, Minho.”

“I'm trying.”

“Well I wouldn’t have pictured you as someone who goes for an ass,” Newt bit back with much sarcasm he could muster. If Newt’s voice was slightly shaking, he was glad that Minho didn’t notice. Instead, the young director just let out a laugh that vanished into silence.

To Newt’s dismay, it wasn’t long before Minho could keep his silence. He called, “Newt.”

“What?!”

“Is your leg okay?”

The space around them was so small making Minho could hear every single movement, including Newt’s deep breath he just took. Minho didn’t want to push, but he wanted to make sure if his partner was not hurting continuously.

“I take it as a no.”

“It's none of your business.”

“It is now that you're my partner.”

“Am I, now?”

“Newt,” Minho sighed at the retort. When he didn’t get any more response from the guy behind him, he added, “Hey, I'm sorry.”

“It’s fine, Minho. I was mostly fine, at least until that bastard hit me up again on my leg.”

“Hypothetically if we are about to escape from here, how far can your leg hold you until you gave up and can’t walk no more?”

“I’m not a cripple, it isn’t like I can’t walk in general. If we hypothetically are about to run, I’d say I can reach the front door of the building. That is if only the structure of the building is like I expected.” Newt answered after taking a calculation upon the pain on his leg.

Minho cringed at the answer, “That bad, huh?”

No words were coming, but he could feel a movement as a sign of a shrug from Newt. Minho took a deep breath. He had to form a plan to rescue themselves and get some medical help for Newt as soon as possible.

* * *

“Minho, can I ask you something?”

“What?”

“Why were you losing your composure when we met at the headquarter? It's not like we never met before that,” Newt’s question sounded more like a curiosity instead of accusation, but it still made Minho stayed still in his place – not that he could move much anyway. Minho took a deep breath, “I was not.”

“You totally were, big guy.”

Minho sighed, but he didn’t give any answer. Newt gave it a few minutes before asking again, “So?”

“I guess I was kind of not expecting it, if that makes any sense?”

“What do you mean?”

Minho shifted in his seat and took a deep breath before explaining, “I had to deal with you guys in school and I didn't think I did anything that make me deserve you, of all people, as my partner. I was never a fan of people who did terrible things to other people, but then I got the bully as my partner. So, I was mad. With myself. With you. With my grandfather...”

“That … actually makes sense.”

“I know, right?”

“I'm sorry for being such a bully.”

“Yeah, you see, Newt, it's kind of too late for that, don't you think? Also, it's Thomas you should've apologized to.”

“Well, I kind of did it because I knew it would attract your attention.”

“Huh?”

“I knew you were coming to the school eventually, so the least I could do was to make an impression.”

Minho paused before hissing, “Are you for real?”

“It worked, mate.” Newt’s answer came with a teasing nudge to Minho’s back. Minho should’ve been offended, but he didn’t. Instead, he chuckled along with the detective, “Any other hidden reason though?”

“What do you mean?”

“All the bullying and stuff, it had nothing to do with Gally and Thomas or whatsoever?”

“Ah, ah, nah. That one is classified.”

Minho grinned. Well, he almost burst out a big laughter if he wasn’t suddenly alarmed by Newt’s choice of word.

“You know what is classified? My plan.”

“What plan?”

“See, along with all the chit-chat we’ve been having in the past couple of minutes – or hours I don’t really know, I’ve kind of managed to form a plan for us to escape from this filthy place,” Minho explained.

He was confident with his plan, even though it wasn’t complete yet, but he really was. However, he wasn’t sure if he could do it all alone. Newt was out of the plan, seeing as he could barely walk on his own. And he wasn’t sure where the other members of the agency were being hostage by Janson.

Knowing Newt, Minho knew he would want to fight with him. But after a long argument and assurance, the detective knew it was better if he stayed there and waited for the extraction team. With Minho’s help, Newt even managed to draw a small paper clip he stored inside his back pocket to break the handcuffs.

_“Why did you have this thing in your pocket?” Minho asked as he tried to break the handcuffs._

_“Shut up, Minho! I just thought it would be useful for times like this. I just didn’t expect it would be that hard drawing it from my pocket with my hands being handcuffed on my back.”_

_“Oh, you like that, don’t you? Being handcuffed on your back, that is.”_

_Newt sputtered at Minho’s remark, “Wha–, no I –, I mean –”_

_“Shut up, blondie, you’re interrupting my concentration.”_

Once they successfully broke their handcuffs, Minho immediately checked their surroundings to see if there was something, anything, that he could use as a weapon. When he found nothing, he decided that he would exert all the results of his practices.

As he managed opening the room door, Newt pulled his shirt and whispered, “Do you remember the plan well, Minho?”

“Mate, please, we’ve been through this. I’m pretty sure I have memorized our plan inside my brain,” Minho said as he mocked his partner who grumbled in front of him.

“Be safe, okay?” Newt added, now with less authorities and more worried.

Minho hesitated for a brief moment before decided that there was no time for any hesitation allowed. Instead, he put his hand on the back of Newt’s head, pulled the detective closer, and placed a chaste kiss on Newt’s forehead.

“You too, Newt. Stay safe, I’ll come back soon to you.”


	5. Breakeven

All Minho’s doubts immediately disappeared as soon as he broke down the door separating the cramped closet and the main room. He was greeted by two of Janson’s men, but he easily knocked them down. As he broke open another door, he met with other men. Minho felt like he was in a video game that he used to play when he was a kid. It was kind of fighting against the weakest enemy, then gradually changed to the stronger ones, until he finally managed to be face-to-face to the main enemy. Or well, in this case, it was Janson.

The urge to get the paramedics inside the building to save Newt was so strong that he couldn’t even remember how many of Janson’s men that he had knocked down. As he met Janson, Minho didn’t even take his time to show the man any mercy. The desire to get revenge and kill Janson was sparkling in his eyes. Because after all Janson did, Minho thought the guy deserved it. Janson took his grandfather from him, he took Newt’s ability to walk normally, and then he planned to take over the agency as well? The only place Minho called as his home? Nope, it was only fair if Minho took all of it back from Janson by taking Janson’s life as well.

But fortunately, he managed to restrain himself and went back to paralyze Janson and hold him down until the expected extraction team came to help him seizing the murderer.

Minho wanted to take his time to scoff at the delayed timing of the extraction team – to Brenda as well knowing she was in charge for the extraction plan, but he didn’t have time. He really needed to get back to Newt and rescue the guy. He could talk to Brenda later when everything was settled back in places. So instead, he called out some paramedics and instructed them to follow him to where he left Newt.

The sight inside the cramped closet was nothing like Minho expected. He thought the room was safe and he had knocked down every single one of Janson’s man in the building. But the fact that there was an unconscious body laying down next to Newt who was grimacing in pain and on the edge of his consciousness as well.

The rest of the day went blurred in Minho’s mind.

He vaguely could hear the paramedics shouted to each other. He even did notice that one of the paramedics approached him to check if he knew Newt’s latest condition, but he couldn’t form any answer. He couldn’t feel the pain in his whole body. His feet became numb.

He just wanted the answer if the paramedics could save Newt. Newt didn’t deserve the cruelty from the world. They needed to save Newt. Minho would fight anyone who was on their way on saving Newt. He promised the guy that he would come back, but what if he was too late?

What if Newt couldn’t make it?

With the dark thought enveloping his brain, Minho felt himself falling deep into a slumber. And then he could feel it went darker. Everything went black.

* * *

The next day Minho came back to school, he was greeted by Thomas by their lockers, who asked if he already did the math homework for that day. He honestly didn’t give a single shuck about school after the chaos that happened around him with the agency and Ratman. Before Minho could even answered Thomas’ question, Ben chimed in from behind him, “I think I heard earlier that Janson won’t be here today.”

Minho almost gulped at the realization. _Right, Janson was a math teacher in this school._

“How do you know so?” He asked Ben to disguise his knowledge about Janson’s whereabouts. Ben only shrugged, but said nothing to the two friends. Instead, he drew out his phone from his pocket and start dialling.

“Who are you calling?” Thomas asked curiously.

Ben scrunched up his nose in worry before pulled back his phone from his ear. He opened the text message application and started typing as he answered, “Newt, I haven’t seen him today and usually when he was skipping classes he would’ve told me in advance.”

“Ah, he is actually in the hospital right now, so that’s probably why he turns off his phone,” Minho unconsciously responded while putting his books in his locker.

Thomas raised an eyebrow at him, “And how do _you_ know that again, Minho?”

Minho’s hand paused in mid-air when he heard Thomas’ accusing question. Without turning – so Thomas couldn’t see his lying face, he formed an immediate answer in his mind and said, “Uh, he texted me?”

Newt, indeed, texted him the day before about his latest condition. They had been communicating via text messages ever since the mission ended. Brenda kept Minho in the headquarter to do some reporting and Newt ended up staying at the hospital, seeing that his leg was damaged badly. So, they had to stick with only text messages. But beyond all the troubles the detective had been through, he was fine. Minho blamed himself for not being composed when the paramedics took Newt away from the building to the hospital. He even fainted. Embarrassing.

“Right, and why did he text you instead of me or Ben?” Gally, who just joined the group, asked. If only he hadn’t met Gally before, he would have punched him for showing his smirk upon the question. But Minho knew any better that Gally wasn’t a bad person – or at least, that was what Newt told him.

Minho sighed. He closed his locker and turned to the three friends in front of him, “You know what, guys? Shuck off, I want my privacy.”

As he began walking away to their homeroom class, Thomas immediately caught up to walk beside him. The brunette asked, “So I was right that there’s really something between you two, right?”

“Right?” Thomas added to Gally who walked on his other side. Gally shrugged, keeping the smirk on his face, “Honestly Thomas, I don’t know either. I was hoping Minho would tell us everything. Didn’t he say we all are friends? I think it was just less than a week ago.”

“Oh, right!” Ben, who walked backwards on Minho’s other side, clapped his hands enthusiastically. He added, “How about that, Minho?”

Minho formed a fake tired sigh on his face, though the dimples on his cheeks that showed his smile were still there. He let out a chuckle and said, “How about we visit him after school? And you all can ask him if there is really something happening between us.”

His friends whooped loudly at his suggestion, attracting other students’ attention around him. But Minho just laughed at their unnecessary enthusiasm. He was sure there was really nothing happening between Newt and himself, but his friends didn’t need to hear that now. And he needed to see how Newt would come up with a response after hearing the accusation.

And when their friends were convinced that there was nothing, maybe he could start forming a plan to turn the nothingness to become something else. _Maybe._

Who knew, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well. Hello again?  
> Honestly I'm not proud with this work. But here it is, I guess.
> 
> I'll see you guys soon?


End file.
